More progress in flexible displays and organics
This is an example of the progress being made with flexible displays based on organic materials. This company with working on “electronic paper” as one of their products, and is working towards replacing the glass-based LCD panels in laptops and other devices. Here is a Washington Post article, along with an article in Scientific American. This was also mentioned on Slashdot.
Mesh Networking continues to emerge
As I have been watching the wireless world explode over the last 8+ years, I have begun to realize that “mesh networking” is where it’s at. Mesh networking is the peer-to-peer solution in the wireless world. It begins to leverage the power contained in each radio to provide “relaying” capabilities for other nodes. Mesh will break the trend of “client-server” designs of traditional multi-point radio networks, and allow for self-configuration and distributed designs.
Mesh networking is going to change the entire way that wireless networks are designed, and also enhance the overall usability and capabilities of these networks. These guys are working in the right area!
Firetide Intros Mesh Routers. You can sign up to be an early adopter: Firetide is introducing a cool new product that it calls a wireless mesh router. It aims to eliminate the wired backhaul from traditional APs. So a company could distribute a slew of Firetide routers which self-configure to pass data from one to the next, back to an AP that is connected. Firetide is also opening the door to companies that want to be part of its early adopters program. HP Labs is already using Firetide gear. In a briefing Firetide gave to Glenn a few weeks ago, the company discussed some specific scenarios, such as unwiring hotels, in which so many of the costs were in the wireline side that their products could drop a project’s cost by more than half…. [Wi-Fi Networking News]
Fuel Cell progress … Laptops, and that means Wearables!
This is a good article about the progress of methanol fuel cells. Apparently, there are several laptop vendors who are going to introduce Methanol Fuel Cell batteries for their laptops in 2004. It seems that the form factor and size for laptops is perfect for this.
If they are going to work for laptops … they will be perfect for wearable computers!
Steve Mann is still leading in new directions …
As always, I am impressed with Steve Mann and his thoughts on “cyborgs” and the extension of humans using technology. He has already run into numerous societal issues, and always explores the extreme edges of wearable computers, and “mediated” reality.
Cyborgs unite!. Professor Steve Mann just may be the world’s first cyborg rights activist. It is a future, he says, that is no longer the exclusive preserve of science fiction. [CNET News.com]
Skiing with my MP3 Player and Cell Phone …
With this latest snow fall (which is still going as of today!) I can only start thinking about getting out and doing some skiing and snowboarding. Lately when I have been going, I like to take some CDs or an MP3 player. Of course I also carry my cell phone.
One of the problems with this is how do you listen to tunes, and also be aware of your cell phone? Well, a little company called Skull Candy from Park City, Utah has a solution. With their product, I can plug a single set of headphones into my MP3 or CD player, and my cell phone at the same time. I can then listen to tunes, and hear my phone ring. I can answer the phone and then return to my listening.
I’m really thinking of getting one of these to try. The one limitation that I can think of is that I carry three devices with me … not two. When I ski or board, I’m always carrying my tunes, my cell phone, and a Motorola FRS radio. My friends and family use the FRS radios to stay in touch on the slopes.
New generations of Input Devices …
This article notes a new type of Input Device that is using Holographic Keypads. It sounds really interesting, however when I went to read the web pages, I found little details about how the product actually works, and the required hardware. Hopefully I’ll find more of this in the future.
The Neuron-Silicon Interface and the Future of Neural Prosthetics
Ok … I have to admit that I really want to go to this Neuron-Silicon Interface conference. This is even beyond where the wearable computer research is going … however along the same path. At the upcoming IEEE International Symposium on Wearable Computers there are a number of very impressive presentations on where the wearable market is moving … however “Neuron-Silicon Interface” will take this concept even further.
When listening to Ray Kurzweil speak about the future, I see these types of discussions very enlightening on our progress in exploring the man-machine interfaces of the future. What is interesting is when you begin to think about the possibilities that will emerge as these neural implants become much more “mainstream”. Just as we are seeing a new culture of piercings, tatoos, and now “extreme body modifications“, I can see in the not-too-distant-future that our culture will embrace a wide range of neural enhancing technologies.
I love the wild ride that we are on … and look forward to what we can’t see over that next rise.
The transparent society gets closer … or a closeup?
There is a merging of technologies, and the evolution of technologies, that is creating the possiblity of every person becoming a “sensor” that can be used by others. With the Internet, 802.11 wireless, wearable computers, cell phones with cameras, and now embedded cameras … we’ll soon be able to share and broker audible and visual information from anywhere.
This article shows what HP engineers have been up to with embedded cameras in glasses. When coupled with a small computer that has recording capabilities, GPS, and wireless connectivity, we could all be sharing recorded information about almost anything that we experience. If you have not read David Brin’s The Transparent Society … you ought to. We’re getting closer and closer …
Man and Machine merging …
I have continued to read about Kevin Warwick and his work with Cybernetics. He is becoming one of the earths first true Cyborgs. Along with Steve Mann (who I’ll post about in the next few days) they are leading the world with this type of research.
In this latest article called “No more talk … Just think” he is exploring an area that I have discussed with friends for quite some time. If the proper sensors were inserted into the brain, a simple application could be used to learn certain neural firing patterns as you thought, or thought of moving a muscle, etc. Once these patterns were learned, we could assign new ways to communicate the presence of these patterns. So now simply thinking about something could be detected by software, and then that software could trigger any type of action. This puts a very different type of spin on “my ears were burning” … I might think about my wife, which would trigger the software to send an instant message to my wife. Even further, it might send a message to her cyborg-implant, which would then activate a small heater implanted in her ear. 😉
With cyborg implants that have visible or non-visible (wireless) communciations you will have whole new ways of communicating … between humans, and between humans and machines.
More mapping software …
I have to admit that I am caught up with maps and GPS. This is yet another mapping application that I found, and I’m really impressed at how it combines the various maps – and even Terraserver satellite images – to create a powerful display of where you are, and your routes and waypoints. I’m going to experiment with this one on my wearable computer!
Viking 0.0.5. A GPS data editor and topo viewer. [freshmeat.net]